Sr. Data Scientist at PayPal
Chicago, IL
$96,928–$180,000from the description
Jul 6, 2026
Chicago, IL
Jul 21, 2026
What this job asks for AI summary
A senior data science role focused on reducing card-related financial losses by building and refining risk strategies across the debit card lifecycle. Day-to-day work involves analyzing transaction data, developing machine learning models in Python, writing SQL against large financial databases, running A/B tests, and presenting risk metrics through Tableau and Looker dashboards. Suits candidates with a background in fraud and risk management within payments or financial services.
Mid level · 2+ years · Remote · Master's required · Full-time
Advertised as Senior, but the requirements read as Mid.
“or” means any one of them counts — you don't need all of them.
We read this from the posting text with AI. Skim the description below before ruling yourself out.
How this req sits in the market our data
Roughly 30,100 people nationally plausibly meet what this posting asks for (data scientists). range 12,600–45,200
Applicant volume Heavy — This req sits in a large pool with little in its requirements to thin it, and auto-apply tools fire at everything in the occupation. Applying early and leading with the rare skills below is what gets read.
Most people in this occupation already list these. Still required — just not what gets you shortlisted.
What the occupation pays Median $122,874 (middle half $87,544–$162,374). This posting is about at that midpoint.
Estimated from BLS employment for this occupation and area, per-skill prevalence across our listing corpus, and published wage benchmarks — as of Jul 28, 2026. It is a model, not a headcount.
Why we read it this way (8)
The job description lists Chicago, IL as the work location with only partial telecommuting permitted; however, per caller instruction, this is being treated as fully remote with no metro assigned.
The advertised title is 'Sr. Data Scientist' (Senior), but the hard minimum requirements are a Master's degree plus 2 years of experience — scope and experience gates align with a Mid-level role.
The degree requirement is a hard gate: 'Master's degree, or foreign equivalent, in Engineering, Statistics or a closely related field' with no equivalent-experience substitution offered.
Tableau and Looker are listed together as a single requirement ('Tableau and Looker dashboards'); Looker is captured as an alternative since either tool satisfies the visualization need.
The posting mentions 'logistic statistical methods' alongside regression — both are captured under the 'regression' skill as they describe the same statistical modeling requirement.
Additional compensation may include annual performance bonus and equity, per the posting.
Ignored 1 non-technology phrase(s) as skills (responsibilities/concepts, not named tools): fraud/risk management.
Caller marked this a fully-remote role — scored against the national candidate pool.
Read the full posting
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